It’s Fantasy Football Season: First League Draft Recap

There are only a handful of things that are more fun for me than a live fantasy sports draft. I purposely play in as many leagues as possible just for the drafts. Also, I’m pretty good at fantasy sports (football, baseball, basketball, golf), winning multiple championships in my career.

Sunday, August 1 marked the kickoff for my Fantasy Football season. This league, compiled of twitter friends, has twelve teams participating. In a random drawing for draft positioning, I earned pick eleven of twelve. With that, I will have pick 14, meaning I should get two top tier players.

Here’s my in depth recap of this leagues draft:

5:59 – one minute before we begin the draft. I am at pick eleven, which means I will have some time before the draft. All twelve owners are present in the chat room, eliminating anyone from complaining about auto-picking. Hope the internet connection holds up!

6:00 – And we’re off! First pick made: Chris Johnson. Second: AP. No surprises yet.

6:05 – Already time for me to pick. All the top ten pre-ranked players go almost in order. I grab Steven Jackson at pick eleven, and Larry Fitzgerald at pick fourteen. I’m satisfied with those two. It will be very interesting who is available in the late 3rd and early 4th round. I wish more people were smack-talking.

6:09 – This draft is moving way too quickly. People are not using their full 1:30 time limit. We are already at pick 22.

6:13 – Surprised that at pick 28, Reggie Wayne is still available. Is there something wrong with him?

6:17 – a lot of my sleepers are already gone. Interested to see how it plays out for them. Three players ranked ahead of my pick remain. One being Knowshon Moreno, who just was injured in camp.

6:19 – My 3rd round pick: Sidney Rice. I think I took him a little too high. I need another RB. 4th round pick: Brett Favre. This makes it official that Favre is coming back… to the ‘Fantasy Guru’s’! It will be feast or famine with the Favre-Rice combo.

6:33 – Teams are taking their time more in picking. the 5th and 6th rounds are where you start using your knowledge to get the hidden gems. My 5th round pick: Brandon Jacobs; 6th round pick: Marion Barber. I now have three RB’s and feeling pretty good about that. Jacobs will be the wild-card.

6:51: Pace has slowed even more. I’m happy with my 7th round pick of Tony Gonzalez and 8th round pick of Clinton Portis. He’s a sleeper, and possibly could have grabbed him later. I will wait to get a kicker and defense with my last two picks.

7:03 – Tough to choose who I want at this point. Most of my people I wanted are gone. Round 9 pick: Fred Jackson; round 10: Jericho Cotchery. In other news, I’m watching the catfight on Big Brother between Kristin and Rachel. Yes, it’s a secret goal of mine to be on this show someday.

7:16 – Very happy with my 11th and 12th round picks: Malcom Floyd and Tim Hightower. We’re getting close to kicker and defense time!

7:29 – At this point, you’re looking at 2nd, 3rd, and 4th string guys. Round 13: Roy Williams; Round 14: Willis McGahee. I need one of my late picks to become an impact player.

7:39 – I finally break down and grab a kicker: Dan Carpenter, in round 15. Round 16 gives me the New England Patriots defense.

7:50 – pick 203, one away from Mr. Irrelevant. I guess that makes my pick, Jeremy Shockey, the last relevant player. Yes, I let the timer go and Shockey was auto-picked for me.

Overall, I am very happy with my team. I would consider me taking Favre a risk if I did not have insider information about Favre coming back. But, I do 🙂 I am looking forward to a fun season in this league. I have one more draft later this month. I’ll use the blog to chronicle my successes this season. I hope you enjoy the ride!

~J